Memeplexes

Much of the study of memes focuses on groups of memes called
memeplexes (also known as meme complexes or as memecomplexes) — such as
religious, cultural, or political doctrines and systems. Memeplexes
contain mutually supportive memes that together become more
evolutionarily successful. These memplexes may also play a part in the
acceptance of new memes which, if they fit with a memplex, can
'piggyback' on that success. Memeplexes of religion provide a common
example. In the case of Christianity, the theory suggests, the
Christian memeplex evolved from Jewish religious teachings to form,
among others, the Catholic church. Following the schism between the
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, and later splits giving rise to
various Protestant churches, various people have added and deleted
individual memes, resulting in the formation of completely different
memeplexes (religions/sects) within the basic umbrella of Christianity,
as well as within (for example) the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant
traditions. (Without some concept of cultural evolution, one might have
to postulate repeated and contradictory divine/demonic revelations in
order to account for the historical record of religions and for the
existence of denominations.)
Transmission

Life forms transmit information vertically (from generation to
generation) via replication of genes. Memes can also transmit
information vertically by replication. Some life forms can spread from
their host horizontally, within groups of contemporaries. Memes also
spread from hosts in such a manner. They may also lie dormant for long
periods of time: Copernicus re-discovered the ancient heliocentric
views of Aristarchus, but Aristarchian memes survive. One can view
memeplexes as assisting the survival and transmission of memes in a
symbiotic relationship.

Memes spread by the behaviors that they generate in their hosts. For
example, the fashion-value that “less is more” spreads through the
behavior of people dressing down in understated clothes and acting
superior. This behavior then has the effect of showing others a
real-life example of this fashion-value, thereby conveying to them the
fashion statement that “less is more”. Verbal transmission can
supplement or replace this imitative method.

Those interested in tracking how memes spread through culture may
use memetrackers, websites that allow one to see how people receive,
use, and spread new information on the Web. Cameron Marlowe's Blogdex
project pioneered research on this topic.